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From struggling to make ends meet to creating clothes for a fashion label and walking the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week last year Sunita, Santosh, and Raziaben were among 32 women who lived a dream through silai label

Women from four different zones collaborated with prestigious fashion designers and launched their own clothing line Silai that was displayed at the Lakme Fashion Week 2018. Here's their rags to riches story

The migration rate in some of the villages of Andhra Pradesh have seen a dip after the state partnered with USHA Silai school to set up training centres that not only improve the skills of rural women and men but also enable them to become financially independent

From being dependent on in-laws for fulfilling family's basic needs to earning Rs. 20,000 a month, E. Iruthayamary from Pondicherry did it all alone

Adopt a Silai School

Do you want to be a part of the huge change that Usha Silai School is bringing about in the lives of millions of rural women? With just a simple click of a button, you can now contribute towards the opening of an Usha Silai School or support various other aspects of the school.

About the Initiative

Kushalta Ke Kadam, an initiative by NDTV and USHA, aims at empowering women from rural India and encourages them to become entrepreneurs by taking up sewing and training others in their respective communities. Since 2011 Usha Silai Campaign has trained more than 3.95 lakh rural women within five years, with 17,000 Silai schools, spanning over 9272 Indian villages in India.

Kushalta Ke Kadam in Season 4 has returned with new goals and vision. The new season will witness the establishment of the new cluster in Kashmir, apart from the existing four clusters setup last year. The women from volatile Kashmir will work with well-known fashion designer Rohit Bal and get an unique opportunity to learn from him and make clothes for him. The work done by the Silai School women will be presented at Lakme Fashion week 2019.

Rebari girls grow up learning traditional embroidery, which along with their new found sewing skills developed at Usha Silai Schools, is helping them earn a living.

Usha Silai School has empowered many rural women to support their family and send their children to school.

The Usha Silai School, established in a small nondescript village that goes by the name of Kottai, is helping empower people from varied communities.

The all-inclusive Usha Silai School Programme covers the entire nation from hamlets tucked between hills to villages cast by the sea.

Vegetables farmers from the Mizoram hills earn very little given the topography of the area. Usha Silai Schools have played an important part in this region by skilling women to financially contribute towards their households.

Usha Silai School learner Lucy has trained seven other women in her community, helping them to become financially independent.

Women like Kaviben from the nomadic Rebari community are finally laying down their roots as they begin to gain financial independence and thereby stability through Usha Silai School.

Usha Silai School, located in the Gujarat's Bhuj village, is enabling rural women to earn as much as Rs. 2,500-4,000 each month.

Usha Silai School, in association with a Gujarat based NGO called Kala Raksha, is trying to bring about a Silai revolution in Bhuj.

Besides training other women from their community, many Usha Silai School learners have become entrepreneurs in their own right.

With sewing becoming easily accessible and lucrative, the silai schools are also helping revive traditional motifs and designs.